Lopes wrap regular season at Bronco Invite

Saturday, October 15

Santa Clara, Calif.

Grand Canyon

Bronco Invitational

10/15/2016 5:26:00 PM | Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Men's 8k Results Women's 6k Results

By: Charles Hampton

The Grand Canyon men's and women's cross country teams had a number of outstanding personal performances as they wrapped up their last regular season meet of the 2016 season at the Bronco Invitational at Baylands Park in Santa Clara, Calif. on Saturday.

"Solid performances by both teams," head coach Sara Slattery said after the meet. " We had 16 of our 18 athletes run PRs. We were missing a few of our men today, which hurt us depth-wise, but I was happy with the performances of the guys who did run."

The Lopes finished 11^th as a team with 248 points, while the men came in 17^th place as a team with 409 team points.

Southern Utah dominated the women's team race with 60 total points, finished 78 ahead of second-place, UC Santa Barbara. Loyola Marymount rounded out the top three on the women's side with 148 team points. San Jose state edged out UCLA in the men's race, taking the team title with 79 points, nine points ahead of the second-place Bruins.

Elizabeth Balsan continued her impressive freshman campaign, finishing as GCU's top runner for the third meet this year, with a 23^rd place finish the women's 6,000m race in 21:09. Junior Mariah Montoya was only 18 seconds back with a 31^st overall finish in 21:27. Another freshman, Paige Hildebrandt finished third for the Lopes with a 61^st place finish in 21:52. Seniors Anna Henry and Lacey Peterson rounded out the top-five for GCU, running 22:14 and 22:25, respectively.

"Liz led our women and just missed breaking 21minutes for 6k," Slattery said. "Mariah was right behind her and had her strongest cross country race I have seen her run. She moved up the whole way and ran over 25 seconds faster than two weeks ago. Paige keeps improving each week and runs like a veteran and moved steadily the whole way. Anna and Lacey both had solid races and will be key for us at conference."

Samuel Proctor was the Lopes top finisher in the men's 8,000m race. The junior ran 24:38 to place 39^th overall. Jose Retana was second across the line for GCU with a time of 25:02, good for 68^th overall. Matthew Anciaux (128^th – 25:55), Gage Hale (162^nd – 26:43) and Angel Salazar (164^th – 26:49) completed the scoring for the Lopes. Junior Chris Baker finished one spot behind Salazar in 26:55 in his second race of the season.

"Sam led our men with 30-second improvement from last year," Slattery added. "Jose just missed breaking 25 (minutes) and also improved by 30 seconds. Matt dipped under 26 for the first time and I am really happy with his progress as a freshman."

Slattery was impressed with the races from Kellie Stroupe (22:47) and Natalie Cardwell (22:50), while adding that Erica Wallace (22:55), Yarithza Soto (22:57), Taylor Bond (23:12) and Bailie Jones (24:01) all ran significant PRs.

"Overall, it was a good day for our team," Slattery said. "We are rounding out well heading into our conference meet in two weeks."

The Lopes will conclude the 2016 season at the WAC Cross Country Championships at Jefferson Park in Seattle, Wash., on Saturday, Oct. 29. The women's race starts at 9 a.m. MST and the men's race will follow at 10 a.m. MST.

GCU Individual Finishers
Women
23 Elizabeth Balsan, 21:09
31 Mariah Montoya, 21:27
61 Paige Hildebrandt, 21:52
85 Anna Henry, 22:14
93 Lacey Peterson, 22:25
108 Kellie Stroupe, 22:47
113 Natalie Cardwell, 22:50
117 Erica Wallace, 22:55
120 Yarithza Soto, 22:57
129 Taylor Bond, 23:12
153 Bailie Jones, 24:01
Men
39 Samuel Proctor, 24:38
68 Jose Retana, 25:02
128 Matthew Anciaux, 25:55
162 Gage Hale, 26:43
164 Angel Salazar, 26:49
165 Chris Baker, 26:55